
KRACKOWIZER’S 


FIRST READER 


A Slim ol Hiawatha and nature. 


CHICAGO: 

A. FLANAGAN, Publisher, 























































% 


A FIRST READER 


— FOR — 

THE LITTLE O N ES, 


— CONTAINING — 


NATURE MYTHS, AND STORIES FROM 
HIAWATHA AND HISTORY. 

BY ALICE M. KRACKOWIZE^ 

»» 


CHICAGO: 

A- FLANAGAN, Publisher, 





Copyright 1894 

— BY - 


Alice M Krackowizer, 


PREFACE. 


This little reader is the outgrowth of work actually 
done with the children. 

The delight with which the lessons were read and re¬ 
read, has led to their publication, in tjie hope that they may 
serve as suggestions to teachers entering upon similar lines 
of work. 

The greater part of the lessons was printed by the 
teacher herself, upon slips of paper, and eagerly read by the 
children. In every case the lessons had been led up to, 
either by the observation work contained therein, or by 
language lessons having the myth or story as a basis. 

Children naturally delight in reading about what they 
are familiar with. Thus, the placing before them of attrac¬ 
tive subject matter, is in itself an incentive to them to mas¬ 
ter the elements of reading. Myths and stories have been 
chosen which bear directly upon their work in nature study, 
and which have been previously told or read to them. 

The lessons on Hiawatha are the result of several 
months’ work on that poem, during which time the children 
were full of their subject. This poem is a treasure to all 
primary teachers. Its vivid pictures of Indian life form a 
valuable afid in introducing the study of geography and his¬ 
tory. It is a literary gem that even little children appre¬ 
ciate and delight in. And in it are contained typical 
examples of almost every line of observation work naturally 



IV 


PREFACE. 


followed by the primary teacher. Hence, to some extent, 
subject matter represented in the poem can be selected for 
actual study. 

The lessons on nature study are suggestive merely. 
For this reason, samples have been given of lessons on 
animals, germination, flowers, the plant as a whole, fruits, 
experiments in evaporation and others. 

The plan of the book is somewhat as follows: The les¬ 
sons on the Indian and on Hiawatha form the nucleus. Con¬ 
nected in a general way with the subject matter of the chap¬ 
ters represented by these, are collected nature myths and 
other stories, all bearing directly upon the work in nature 
study done by the children. Some of the thoughts under¬ 
lying the selection and presentation of these myths and 
stories are: 

Do they represent a truth of nature ? Do they embody 
a spirit of helpfulness? Do they present elements for form¬ 
ing in the child’s imagination a glowing, beautiful picture ? 

It is the author’s hope that this reader may do a little 
towards satisfying the present demand, and may, perhaps, 
suggest something better to other primary teachers. 


CONTENTS 


Abraham Lincoln.— 

All about Eggs. 

All about Our Plants. 

Apollo’s Cows. 

Beaver and the Fire. 

Bow and Arrow. 

Decoration Day. 

Endymion and Diana. 

Fairies and the Elm Tree. 

First Thanksgiving Day. 

George Washington. 

Hare and the Tortoise. 

Henry W. Longfellow. 

Hermes. 

Hiawatha. 

Hiawatha.. — 

Hiawatha’s Canoe. 

Hiawatha and Nokomis. 

Hiawatha’s Teaching. 

How Daylight Came. 

How Robin Got Her Red Breast 

How Silk is Made. 

Indian Food. 

Indian Houses. 

Jack and Jill. 

Little Grains of Corn. 

Little Pine Tree. 

Mrs. Holle. 

Mrs. Willow and Mr. Bee. 

Our Skin. 

Persephone. 

Phaeton. 

Python. 

Rabbit and the Sun. 


Page. 

.. Ill 
.. 35 

.. 65 
.. 97 
.. 22 
.. 47 
.. 115 
.. 12 
.. 18 
.. 109 
.. 113 
. 28 
7 

.. 82 
.. 49 

. . 61*" 
.. 80 
.. 14 

.. 99 

.. 106 
.. 86 
.. 34 
.. 51 
.. 13 

.. 11 
.. 71 


105 

37 

52 

58 

98 

96 

20 






































vi. CONTENTS. 

Rip Van Winkle. 60 

The Beaver...!. 21 

The Chipmunk. 25 

The Crayfish. 29 

The Dandelion. 102 

The Four Winds. 100 

The Golden Apple. 55 

The Golden-Rod. . 46 

The Indians..*. 9 

The Japanese Persimmon. 59 

The Little Leaf. 75 

The Moth. 84 

The Orange.. 54 

The Pilgrims. 107 

The Pine. 16 

The Pomegranate. 56 

The Ravens., 63 

The Spider. 38 

The Squirrel. 24 

The Star Grass. 40 

The Strawberry Plant. 78 

The Trillium. 42 

The Turtle. 27 

The Violet. 72 

The Woodpecker. 85 

What We Saw. 10 

What We Saw. 88 

“ “ “ continued. 89 

“ “ “ “ 90 

“ “ “ concluded. 93 

Wind and the Sun. 45 

Winter and Spring. 104 





































KIR ST HEADER 



Longfellow, the poet, was a good 
old man. 

He had dear, jolly eyes. 

All the children liked him. 



8 


FIRST READER. 


He liked all the children very 
much. 

He had a big arm-chair. 

The children had it made for him. 
They had it made out of a chestnut 
tree. 

Mr. Longfellow had three little 
girls. 

They were nice little girls. 

One of them had golden hair. 

Her name was Edith. 

Mr. Longfellow said about her: 
“There was a little girl, 

She had a little curl 

Right in the middle of her forehead; 

When she was good 

She was very, very good; 

But when she was bad, 

She was horrid.” 


FIRST READER. 


9 


THE INDIANS. 



The Indians lived in the woods. 


There were many deer in the 
woods. 

There were squirrels in the woods. 
The Indians made tents to live in. 
They made the tents with large 
poles. 

They covered the poles with skin. 
Some tents were pointed at the top. 



10 


FIRST READER. 


The Indians made clothes out of 
skin, too. 

The Indians were very good to 
Columbus. 

The Indians were good to the Pil¬ 
grims, too. 


WHAT WE SAW. 


Sometimes the moon is in the east. 

Sometimes the moon is in the west. 

Sometimes we see it in the morn¬ 
ing. 

Then it looks very white. 

What makes it look that way ? 

Sometimes we see it in the evening. 

Sometimes it is big and round. 

Sometimes it looks like a piece of 
melon. 

At Christmas the sun rose a little 
south of east. 




FIRST READER. 


11 


Now it rises north of east. 

And it sets north of west. 

We have watched the sun at five 
minutes past nine o’clock. 

It never shines twice on the same 
spot. 

We think it is very queer. 

JACK AND JILL. 

“Jack and Jill, 

Went up the hill, 

To get a pail of water.” 

The man in the moon saw them. 

He was all alone with his bundle of 
sticks. 

He wanted some one to talk to. 

So he jumped down. 

He took Jack and Jill up to the 
moon with him. 

Can you see them up there ? 


12 


FIRST READER. 


Now lie is not alone. 

He likes to have them up there. 


ENDYMION AND DIANA. 


Endymion was a little shepherd 
boy. 

He stayed up on the hill with his 
sheep. 

Every night he lay down on the 
hill and went to sleep. 

Diana was the moon. 

She was high up in the sky. 

As she passed the hill she saw 
Endymion sleeping. 

She said: “What a dear boy. I 
must not wake him. But I shall kiss 
him very, very softly.” 

And so she did. 

Every time she passed the hill she 




FIRST READER. 


13 


kissed Endymion very, very softly. 
But she never woke him up. 


INDIAN HOUSES. 



Most Indians live in tents. 

They put long poles into the 
ground. 

They cross them at the top. 

Then they cover them with skin. 
Sometimes they cover them with 
birch bark. 

They use other bark, too. 



14 


FIRST READER. 


They call their tent a wigwam. 

Some Indians do not live in wig¬ 
wams. 

They live in square, wooden houses. 

The houses have only one room. 

There are some queer animals 
painted all over the front of the 
houses. 

In front of each house stands a 
high pole. 

The pole has animals carved all 
ove’ t 

These animals are painted, too. 

That pole is the totem pole. 

HIAWATHA AND NOKOMIS. 

When he was a little boy, Hia¬ 
watha lived with his grandmother, 
Hokomis. 

Poor little boy ! His mamma was 
dead. 




FIRST READER. 


15 


Hokomis was very good to him. 

He heard the whispering of the 
wind in the pine trees of the woods. 

He saw the pretty little fire-fly. 

He saw the moon rise from the 
water. 

Hokomis told him about a warrior. 

She said the warrior was angry. 

He threw his grandmother against 
the moon. 

You can see her up there now. 

Then Eokomis told him aboui: the 
rainbow. 

She said it was the wild flowers 
growing in heaven. 

Little Hiawatha talked with the 
birds and all the animals. 

He called the birds, “Hiawatha’s 
Chickens!” 

He called the other animals, “ Hia¬ 
watha’s Brothers!” 


16 


FIRST READER. 


THE PINE. 



We had a branch of a pine tree. 

It had long green needles on it. 
The needles were smooth and 
sharp. 

They were pointed at one end. 
They were flat on one side. 

The other side was rounded. 

They were stiff and straight. 





FIRST READER. 


17 


They were as thin as darning- 
needles. 

At one end of the needle there was 
a sheath. 

The sheath looked like a root. 

It looked like wood. 

One sheath has two long needles in 

it. 


THE LITTLE PINE TREE 


What did the pretty little pine tree 
want & 

First it wanted some leaves of pure 
gold. 

A man came with a bag. He took 
all the pretty leaves. 

Then the little tree wanted leaves 
of glass. 

Oh, how the wind did make them 
dance! 




18 


FIRST READER. 


Poor little tree! The glass leaves 
were all broken. 

Then it wanted green leaves, like 
those of the other trees. 

A mamma goat came with her 
little ones. They ate all the green 
leaves. 

“ I wish I had my own little needles 
back,” said the little pine tree. 

Next morning it woke lip. It 
looked at itself. It laughed and 
laughed. 

Why did it laugh ? Can you guess ? 


THE FAIRIES AND THE ELM TREE. 


Some little fairies were caught in 
the rain. 

They had been dancing on the 
grass. 

How pretty they looked! 




FIRST READER. 


19 


They did not want to get wet. 

They ran under a great big elm 
tree. 

“ Poor little fairies,” said the elm 
tree. 

“I will send yon some cloaks to 
keep off the rain.” 

So the elm tree shook his head. 

Then many little leaves fell down. 

The fairies wrapped them around 
each other. What nice cloaks they 
were! 

“Thank you, dear elm tree,” they 
said. 

“You are very good to us.” 

When the rain was over they ran 
home. 


20 


FIRST READER. 


THE RABBIT AND THE SUN. 



A little rabbit caught the sun in a 
trap. 

The sun could not get out. 

The rabbit felt sorry for the sun. 
He said, “I will help you.” 

So he ran to help the sun. 

But the sun was hot. 

The rabbit came too near the sun. 
The sun singed his hair right be¬ 
tween the shoulders. 

The hair turned black. 



FIRST READER. 


21 


Now, some rabbits have black hair 
between their shoulders. 


THE BEAVER. 



The beaver has black eyes. 

His teeth * are long and orange 
colored. 

He can gnaw trees with his long 
teeth. 

Mice can gnaw. Squirrels can 

gnaw. 








22 


FIRST READER. 


The beaver has a hard, flat, rough 
tail. 

His tail helps him to swim. 

His hind feet help him to swim. 
He has webs on his hind feet. 

His hair is brown, gray, and black. 
The black hair is under the brown 
hair. 

His black hair is his winter coat. 


THE BEAVER AND THE FIRE. 


It was very cold. 

The animals did not know how to 
make a fire. 

The pines did, but they would not 
tell. 

The beaver said,' “I will find out 
how to make one.” 

So he ran and hid under the bank. 




FIRST READER. 


23 


Pretty soon the pines came and 
made a fire. 

A live coal rolled out and down the 
bank. 

The beaver grabbed the coal in his 
mouth and ran. 

The pines ran, too, but they could 
not catch him. 

The beaver gave the fire to the 
birch tree. 

He gave it to the willow. 

He gave it to some other trees. 

He gave it to the animals. 

The Indians can get the fire from 
the trees. 

Ho you know how ? 


24 


FIRST READER. 


THE SQUIRREL. 



The squirrel has two coats of hair 
like the beaver. 

Its hair is brown, gray, white and 
black. 

It has four orange colored teeth 
like the beaver. 

The teeth are in front. 

The squirrel can gnaw with its 
teeth. 





FIRST READER. 


25 

It likes nuts to eat. 

How do squirrels hold the nuts? 

The teeth keep on growing like the 
beaver’s teeth. 

The squirrel’s tail is not made to 
help him to swim. 

It is not flat and hard like the 
beaver’s. 

It has too many hairs. 

The squirrel has no webs, not even 
on its hind feet. 

The beaver can swim. 

Can the squirrel swim? 

THE CHIPMUNK. 


The chipmunk has black stripes on 
his back. 

His little chipmunks lived in an old 
tree. 

The tree was near the water. 




26 


FIRST READER. 


One day the water came np to the 
tree. 

The chipmunk said, “ My little ones 
will drown. 

“ I will put my tail into the water 
and shake it. 

“ The water will fly away!” 

The god Shiva saw the chipmunk 
try to do this. 

He said, “Go home; I will take 
care of the water.” 

He put his hand on the back of the 
chipmunk. 

He made three black stripes on his 
back. 

The chipmunk is proud of his 
stripes. 


FIRST READER. 


27 


THE TURTLE. 



The turtle has a round, hard shell. 
The shell is the turtle’s coat. 

The shell keeps the turtle warm. 
The shell protects the turtle. 

It can draw its head into the shell. 
It can draw its legs into the shell. 
The turtle can not run fast. 

Its shell is too heavy. 

Its shell drags on the ground. 

Its legs are too short. 





28 


FIRST READER. 


The squirrel needs no shell to pro¬ 
tect it. 

The hare needs no shell to protect 
it. 

THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE. 

A hare met a tortoise. 

“Let us run a race,” said the hare. 

“We will run to that hill!” 

The hare can run fast. 

The tortoise can not run fast. 

The hare said, “0, the tortoise can 
not beat me!” 

So he lay down and went to sleep. 

The tortoise went on, and on, and 
on. 

At last the hare awoke. 

“Oh, the tortoise is up on that hill!” 
he said. 

Now he ran fast. 

But the tortoise won the race.. 




FIRST READER. 
THE CRAYFISH. 


29 



The crayfish has little feather legs 
under his abdomen, that help him 
about as much as his other legs. 

We call them swimmerets because 
they help him in swimming. 

Some of the crayfish seem to be 
forever trying to get out of a pan. 

They walk on eight, thin, hard legs. 


30 


FIRST READER. 


The two front ones have tiny pinchers 
on them. The back ones have only 
one toe. 

It looks as if there were little teeth 
on the inner side of the pinchers. 

The crayfish has two big pinchers 
in front of the legs. Oh, but he 
can pinch! They are just like the 
others, only larger and stronger. 

When he fights, he sometimes looses 
a whole pincher, but another one 
grows out. 

The crayfish can swim backwards 
very fast. He turns his tail under his 
abdomen and pushes against the 
water. 

He does not use his legs in swim¬ 
ming. They are not good oars. But 
when he begins to crawl, those little 
stick legs are just the thing. 

The crayfishes can raise themselves 


FIRST READER. 


31 


right up on their big pinchers. 

The crayfishes carry their eggs 
and their little ones hanging to the 
swimmerets. 

The little ones are dear little things. 
They have five pair of legs and two 
pair of feelers, just like the big ones. 
The front feelers are shorter than the 
other two. 

They swim and jump about much 
faster than the big ones, and some¬ 
times they turn right over. 

Their eyes look like little doll’s shoe 
buttons. They stick way out, move 
around on little stalks, and never 
close. 

The crayfish can see far away 
with his eyes. 

The eyes are made to stay open 
under the water, because the cray fish 
lives there so much. 


32 


FIRST READER. 


There is a thin invisible skin over 
them that keeps the water out. 

Under the long thin feelers and 
the eyes, there are two foot-jaws that 
look like the horns of a deer. 

But they are soft and they move 
about almost like feelers; and when 
they catch something the crayfish 
wants to eat, they stick it into a little 
hole back of them. 

That little hole is the mouth. It 
is not like our mouth. In it on either 
side are some little white teeth. The 
crayfish chews sideways instead of up 
and down. 

When the crayfish is frightened 
he spreads out his pinchers and flaps 
his tail and sprawls his legs. 

For a whole week we have been 
looking for the ears. 

We found two little white spots 


FIRST READER. 


33 


near the mouth; but those are little 
glands. Water and things that the 
crayfish does not want, come out of 
these little holes. 

We found two little spots back of 
the eyes, but those are only spots on 
the shell. 

The ears are at the end of the 
small feelers that are attached to the 
head. 

The shell is smooth on the head and 
back of the crayfish. On the abdomen 
it is divided into several parts. 

When the crayfish was under 
water, we saw some water come out 
at the side of his head under the 
shell; then some went back in. 

The crayfish must breathe under 
the water; he is there so much of 
the time. I should think he would 
breathe like a fish. 


34 


FIRST READER. 


THE MOTH. 

We saw the moth lay some eggs. 
The eggs are white and brown. 
The eggs are little. 

The moth’s eggs are round. 

The chicken’s eggs are not round. 
The fish lays round eggs. 

The crayfish lays round eggs. 


HOW SILK IS MADE. 


What pretty cocoons we have! 

Two of them are yellow and two 
are white. 

Some little silk worms made them. 

The silk threads are taken from 
the worms. 

They are called raw silk. 

Then they are washed in soap and 
water. 




FIRST READER. 


35 


They look much cleaner when they 
are washed. 

They shine more. 

They are much softer. 

Then all kinds of silk are made. 

My mamma has a silk dress. 

I have a silk ribbon. 


ALL ABOUT EGGS. 


Our moth laid some little round 
eggs. . 

They were white and brown. 

Fishes, frogs and crayfishes lay 
round eggs, too. 

Crayfishes carry their eggs around 
with them. 

Fishes, frogs and moths do not. 

Spiders lay round eggs, too. 

They spin little bags for their eggs, 
and then hang them up. 




36 


FIRST READER. 


The eggs of birds and chickens are 
not as round as those of the moth. 

The chicken’s egg has a yellow 
yolk and some white around it. 

Between the shell and the white it 
has a thin skin. This skin is translu¬ 
cent. 

There is a thin skin around the 
yolk. 

In the yolk there is a little round 
spot. 

That little spot is the baby chicken. 

It is called the embryo. 

All eggs have an embryo. 

Sometimes the embryo is so small 
that we cannot see it. 


FIRST READER. 


37 


MRS. WILLOW AND MR. BEE. 


“Good morning, Mrs. Willow/’ 
said Mr. Bee. 

“Good morning, Mr. Bee. How do 
you do? You look tired. Sit down 
on one of my twigs and rest.” 

“Yes, I will. Jack Frost is coming 
soon; then I can get no more honey. 
Dear me! I will have to be shut up 
all winter! 

“You don’t need to work hard, do 
you, Mrs. Willow?” 

“Hot work hard! Just think of all 
the babies I have! They are all over 
the tree. There is one right under 
you!” 

Mr. Bee jumped. 

“ I don’t see any baby! I see only 
some little hard lumps!” 

“ Those are my babies fast asleep! 



38 


FIRST READER. 


I had to make all those fur coats.” 

a Good night! sweet dreams to you 
and the babies. I will come to see 
you in the spring.” 

Away flew Mr. Bee. 

When did the babies wake up ? 

THE SPIDER 



Have you seen a spider spin his 
web ? 




FIRST READER. 


39 


What a fine, pretty one he makes ! 

Where does the spider get his 
threads ? 

Which threads does he spin first ? 

How does he fasten them? 

Have you seen him run up and 
down on his thread? 

He can swing on it, too. 

Where does he like to put his web? 

What is the web for ? 

There was a little girl called 
Arachne. 

She was very, very proud. 

She said, “I can spin better than 
any one else.” 

So she was turned into a spider. 

How she can spin all she wants to. 


40 


FIRST READER. 


THE STAR GRASS. 



The star grass has a bulb like an 
onion. 

The roots come out of the bulb. 
The roots and the bulb are white ; 
they grow under the ground. 

The sun can not get at them ; that 
is why they are white. 

The bulb smells like a potato. 

It looks like the pea we planted. 


FIRST READER. 


41 


The star grass flower has six petals, 
six stamens and one pistil. 

The pistil looks like a pin; it looks 
like a little bottle. 

We made a circle around the out¬ 
side of the petals; all the points of 
the star touched the circle. 


42 


FIRST READER 


THE TRILLIUM 



There are white trilliums and there 
are red trilliums. 

Both of them have long, smooth, 
slender stems. 


FIRST READER. 


43 


There are three leaves growing 
around the stem. 

The flower of the red trillium is 
right above the leaves. It is sitting 
right in them. 

The flower of the white trillium 
has a stem of its own, coming out 
from among the leaves. 

Under the leaves the stem is thick¬ 
er than it is above them. 

At the end of the stem of the 
white trillium there is a flower 
shaped somewhat like a lily. 

The white trillium has three 
petals. 

It has three green sepals on the 
outside of the petals. 

The red trillium also has three 
sepals and three petals, but the flow¬ 
er is not shaped like a bell, and the 
petals are red instead of white. 


44 


FIRST READER. 


Inside of the petals the white tril- 
lium has six thin stamens. 

The stamens are white at the 
bottom and lemon-colored at the top. 

We rubbed the top of the stamens 
between our fingers, and some lemon- 
colored dust came off. 

In the red trillium there are also 
six stamens, but they are black on the 
outside; only the inner side is 
yellow. 

In the center of the flower there is 
a large whitish pistil. 

There are three little curled stems 
coming out at the top of the pistil. 

We cut the pistil in two, crosswise; 
there were a great many small seeds 
in it. 

The inside of the pistil looked like 
a star with six corners. 

The pistil is larger at the bottom 


FIRST READER. 


45 


than it is at the top. It has six little 
ridges on it. 

THE WIND AND THE SUN. 

“There is a man on the road,” said 
the wind. 

“ Can we make him take his coat 
off?” 

“Let us try,” said the sun. “You 
try first.” 

So the wind blew, and blew, and 
blew. 

But the man pulled his coat up 
around his neck. 

He felt cold. 

“How I will try,” said the sun. 

So it shone, and shone, and shone. 

The man took off his coat. 

What made him take it off? 



46 


FIRST READER. 


THE GOLDEN-ROD. 



Tell me, pretty golden-rod 
Growing everywhere, 

Did the fairies come from Fairyland, 
And make the dress yon wear'? 



FIRST READER. 


47 


THE BOW AND ARROW. 



Why did Iagoo make Hiawatha’s 
bow of an ash-tree branch ? 

Ho you know? 

Did he have a knife to cut the 
deerskin for the bow? 

Was it a sharp stone knife? 

The oak tree gave some boughs 
for the arrows. 



48 


FIRST READER. 


They were strong and hard. 

The arrow-heads shone in the sun. 
They were flint arrow-heads. 

They were tied on to the arrows. 
At the other end, the arrows were 
winged with feathers. 

Why were they winged with feath¬ 
ers? 


FIRST READER. 


49 


HIAWATHA. 



Iagoo made a bow and an arrow 
for little Hiawatha. 

Then Hiawatha went into the woods. 
The squirrels said to him, “Do not 
shoot us, Hiawatha!” 

The rabbits said, “Do not shoot us.” 
He saw a fine large deer. 

He shot it and took it home. 

Was hTokomis glad to see him ? 




50 


FIRST READER. 


She said, “Oh, what a fine deer! 



“Where did you get it? 

“I will take off the skin; then I 






FIEST READER. 


51 


will make yon some clothes out of it. 

“Then we will eat the flesh of the 
deer.” 

Hiawatha was very proud of his 
clothes. 

Do you know why ? 

INDIAN FOOD. 

What did the Indians eat? 

They went hunting. 

They shot the deer, the rabbit, and 
the squirrel. 

They went fishing. 

They ate the fish they caught. 

They found many berries; blue¬ 
berries, strawberries, gooseberries and 
grapes. 

Hiawatha showed them how to 
plant the corn. 

He showed them how to take care 
of it. 




52 


FIRST READER. 


They rubbed the grains of corn be¬ 
tween two stones. 

They made flour out of the corn. 

OUR SKIN. 

We have many little pores all over 
our skin. 

When we perspire, the perspira¬ 
tion comes through these little pores. 

Dust and dirt like to fill up our 
little pores. 

Then nothing can come through 
them. 

Then the body must keep some bad 
things. 

Then our skin may get sick. 

Our body may get sick, too. 

Do you know how to keep your 
pores open? 

Soap and water will keep them 
open. 




FIRST READER. 


53 


Soap and water all over the body. 

We know some queer things about 
our skin. 

We have more than one skin. 

It is nice and smooth all over. 

What makes it so nice and soft ? 

Do you know ? 

There is some oil in our skin, to 
keep it smooth and soft. 

You can look, but you will not see 
the oil. 

Sometimes the wind makes our 
hands chap. 

Sometimes water makes them chap. 

If you wipe them dry, water will 
not chap them. 

Do you like rough hands ? 

I think they hurt when they are 
rough. 


54 


FIRST READER. 


THE ORANGE. 


The orange is round like a sphere. 
The lemon is not round like a 
sphere. 

The lemon is yellow. 

Some oranges are yellow. 

The inside of the rind is white. 

The rind has little sacs in it. 

These sacs are round. 

We saw some juice in these sacs. 
The pulp of the orange is sweet. 
The pulp of the lemon is not sweet. 
The rind is bitter. 

The pulp has little cells in it. 

We saw some juice in the cells. 
The cells look like snails. 

The cells look like little rats. 

The cells look like leaves. 

The cells look like seeds. 

The cells have a fiber at one end. 



FIRST READER. 


55 


The fiber looks like a thread. 

The fiber is attached to the skin of 
the pulp. 

Oil will burn. 

The juice in the orange rind will 
burn. 

The juice in the orange rind is oil. 

The oil is in little round sacs. 

The pulp of the orange has seg¬ 
ments. 

Each segment is covered with a 
thin white skin. 

In the segments are the little cells. 

Each cell has a little fiber at one end. 

You can burst the cells. 

The juice will run out. 


THE GOLDEN APPLE. 

Juno was strong and tall. 
Minerva was wise and brave. 



56 


FIRST READER. 


Venus was very beautiful. 

They all wanted the golden apple. 
Paris liked them all. 

I am glad I was not Paris. 

Why did he not cut the apple into 
three parts ? 

That is what mamma does for us. 


THE POMEGRANATE. 



Do you see our pomegranates ? 

Do they not look like apples ? 

They grow on trees. 

Cranberries do not grow on trees. 
The rind of our pomegranate is red, 
yellow and brown. 




FIRST READER. 


57 


The orange rind has little sacs in it. 

The rind of the pomegranate has 
no little sacs in it. 

We saw no juice in it. 

See how round the pomegranate is! 

How many seeds the pomegranate 
has! 

There is some skin around the 
seeds. 

There is some juice inside of the 
skin. 

There is some, good, sweet juice in 
it. 

Are pomegranates good to eat ? 

I think they are good. 

Do you like them? 

The seeds are pointed at one end 
like apple seeds. 

Are grape seeds pointed at one end? 

Yes, they are. 


58 


FIRST READER. 


PERSEPHONE. 

Persephone was a good little 
girl. 

Her mamma’s name was Demeter. 
Demeter took care of the flowers 
and all the plants. 

Persephone would stay home alone. 
She would play with the nymphs. 
One day she saw a fine red flower. 
Did she pull it up ? 

Where did Pluto take her % 

Poor Demeter! She came home. 
Persephone was not there. 

She went to the nymphs. 

She went to Apollo. 

Did Apollo send Hermes down to 
Pluto ? 

What did Hermes have on his feet ? 
Persephone said, “I ate six pome¬ 
granate seeds.” 


FIRST READER. 


59 


Demeter said, “ Yon must stay with 
Pluto for six months.” 

Did the trees and flowers grow 
when Persephone came back? 


THE JAPANESE PERSIMMON. 


Some of us called the persimmon a 
tomato. 

In shape the persimmon resembles 
a top, the lemon resembles an egg, 
the orange resembles a sphere. 

The color is- brighter than the color 
of the orange. 

The skin is like that of a plum. 

What a pretty calyx the per¬ 
simmon has! 

The sepals are much larger than 
other sepals we have seen. 

George saw some fibers in the 
pulp. 




60 


FIRST READER. 


There is a star that resembles the 
star in the orange. 

The star in the apple was not so 
large, and it had five points. 

The star in the persimmon has a 
small round hole in the middle. 

Theodore thinks the skin looks like 
tissue paper. 

We could find no seeds in the per¬ 
simmon. 


RIP VAN WINKLE. 

There were some queer little men 
in the mountains. 

They had long beards and pointed 
hats. 

They were playing ten pins on the 
rocks. 

Their balls rolled over the rocks. 

And the balls made a noise like 
thunder. 




FIRST READER. 


61 


Rip Yan Winkle heard the thun¬ 
der. 

Then he came upon the queer little 
men. 

They would not speak to him. 

They only nodded, and nodded, and 
nodded at him. 

They made him very sleepy, and 
he fell asleep. 

HIAWATHA. 

Have you ever seen an Indian ? 

Indians live in tents. 

These tents are made out of skins. 

They go hunting and fishing. 

They do not shoot with guns ; they 
shoot with arrows. 

There was an Indian called Hia¬ 
watha. 

He loved the birds and the flowers 
very much. 




62 


FIRST READER. 


All the animals liked him. 

He wanted to be kind to the other 
Indians. 

He fasted for seven days. 

He fought with Mondamin and 
killed him. 

Then Hiawatha put him into the 
earth. 

He kept the earth loose and damp 
above him. 

At last some beautiful corn grew 
up. 

Had the Indians not seen corn 
before ? 


FIRST READER. 


63 


THE RAVENS. 



The ravens and crows were very 
hungry. 

“Come,” said the king of the 
ravens. 

“Let us go to Hiawatha’s corn¬ 
fields. 

“He has watched Mondamin. 


64 


FIKST READER. 


“He has kept off weeds and in¬ 
sects. 

“But we will pull Mondamin out 
of the ground.” 

Hiawatha heard the king of the 
ravens. 

He laid traps all over the cornfield. 

He caught all the ravens. 

He killed all but the king. 

“I shall tie you to my wigwam,” he 
said. 

“You shall not touch Mondamin 
any more. 

“You shall not take the corn from 
the Indians.” 


FIRST READER. 


65 


ALL ABOUT OUR PLANTS. 



Did you ever look at a dry lima 
bean ? If you did, I suppose you saw 
that the skin was whitish and wrinkled, 
and had some veins extending across 
it the short way. 

The veins in the center are straight, 
the rest are slightly curved. 

The dry bean is as hard as a stone; 
it is shaped like the quarter of the 
moon, and has a concave and a con¬ 
vex edge. 

On the concave edge there is a 
small rough spot on the seed coat, 
shaped like a tiny bean. It is the 
place where the bean was attached to 
the pod. 


FIRST READER. 


Did you ever soak a bean? How 
it does swell and fill out the seed 
coat! And the seed coat feels slip¬ 
pery and comes off so easily! 

Do you know how a kid glove feels ? 
Well, a soaked seed coat feels that 
way. 

When we held the seed coat to the 
light, we all said. “Oh, it is trans¬ 
lucent!” 

After we had taken the seed coat 
off the bean we had a great time, 
for our bean did want to split into 
halves. 

How do you like the name of 
“cotyledons” for the two halves of a 
bean ? 

The cotyledons are held together 
by a tiny radicle that turns toward 
the concave edge of the bean. 

There is a tiny plumule inside of 


FIRST READER. 


67 


the cotyledons at the same end as the 
radicle. It is light green. 

The soaked pea is soft like the 
soaked bean. It has a smooth trans¬ 
lucent seed coat. 

-It has a rough spot on the outside 
of the coat. 



It has a radicle under the rough 
spot, curled in the same way as the 
radicle in the bean, and holding to¬ 
gether the two cotyledons. 

It also has a plumule between the 
two cotyledons; but in the pea the 
plumule resembles the head of a 
spear, while in the bean it resembles 
a leaf. 


68 


FIRST READER. 


The plumule of the pea has two 
little holes to lie in on the inside of 
the cotyledons. 

The pea is spherical, and the bean 



is shaped something like the quarter 
of the moon. 

The pea has no concave edge like 
the bean. It is green and the bean 
is whitish. 


FIRST READER. 


We can not see veins in the seed 
coat of the pea. 

How queer it was! 

We pulled up a pea plant. 

The pea was where we had left it. 



It had turned yellow and brown. 
It had grown smaller. 

But it was there. 

We pulled up a bean plant. 

We could not find the bean. 


70 


FIRST READER. 


Guess where it was! 

It was a few inches above the 
ground. 

It had turned green. 

It looked like two thick, clumsy 
leaves. 

How did it get up there ? 

Why did it not stay in the ground 
like the pea ? 

We will watch it. What will it do 
next ? 


FIRST READER. 


71 


THE LITTLE GRAINS OF CORN, 



We put some corn into a glass of 
water. 

The corn was very dry. 

The next day the grains were much 
larger. 

They had been drinking water. 

The water had made them swell. 

We planted them in two flower¬ 
pots. 



72 


FIRST READER. 


One of these we set in the window, 
the other we put into a dark drawer. 

Poor little grains of corn! They 
will have no light! Will they grow ? 

We will water them as we do the 
others. 


THE VIOLET 



Yiolet plants have roots, stems and 
leaves. 

Some of the stems are leaf stems 
and some are flower stems. 



FIRST READER. 


Y3 

The roots are yellowish-white, and 
thin. 

Henry says they resemble hair. 
Some of us think they are yellowish- 
white because they live in the dark, 
dark ground. 

Our peas that grew in the dark 
were white and yellow. 

Did you know that roots could 
talk ? This is what they said to us: 
“We live in the dark ground. We 
climb down, and down, and down. 

“We like black earth best. Do 
you see some on us ? 

“The rain comes down to us. We 
drink it. 

“Do you think we Send it up to the 
stems? 

“You have not as many mouths as 
we have. 

“We need many mouths. We 


74 


FIRST READER. 


must not talk any more. Good-bye.” 

The stems and leaves told us many 
things. 

The leaves said: “We are green, 
and feel soft and silky. We have 
little scallops along our edges. 

“ Can you count all our little green 
veins ? 

“Children have blue veins. They 
have red blood in them. 

“Do you like our sap? Did it 
taste good ? 

“Do you think that is our blood? 
It runs through our veins. 

“We have veins in our backs. 
Have you ? 

“The roots are very good. They 
drink for us, so we can grow. So we 
breathe for them. 

“We breathe for the little yellow 
and purple violets, too. 


FIRST READER. 


75 


“ We breathe with the. lower face 
of our blade. 

“We think yourlungs are queer. 
“And we think the gills of a fish 
are queer, too.” 


THE LITTLE LEAF. 


Once on a time a little leaf was 
heard to sigh and cry. And the twig 
said: “ What is the matter, little 
leaf ?” 

“The wind,” said the leaf, “just 
told me that one day he would pull 
me off and throw me down on the 
ground to die.” 

The twig told it to the branch and 
the branch told it to the tree. And 
the tree rustled all over and sent 
back word to the little leaf: 

“Do not be afraid, hold on tightly 




FIRST READER. 


76 

and you shall not go until you want to.” 

And so the leaf stopped sighing 
and went on singing. 

When the bright days of autumn 
came, the little leaf saw all the 
leaves around it grow very beautiful. 

Some were yellow, some were 
scarlet, and some were striped with 
both colors. 

Then the little leaf asked the tree 
what this meant, and the tree said: 
“All these leaves are getting ready 
to fly away, and .they have put on 
these beautiful colors because they 
are glad.” 

Then the little leaf wanted to go, 
and it grew beautiful. And it said to 
the branches of the tree: “ 0, 

branches, why are you so dull colored 
and we so golden VI 

The branches said: “ We must 


FIRST READER. 


77 


keep on our working clothes, for our 
work is not over/, but your clothes 
are for a holiday, because your task 
is finished.” 

Just then a little puff of wind 
came, the leaf let go, and the wind 
took it and turned it over and over. 

At last it fell gently down, under 
the edge of the fence, among hun¬ 
dreds of leaves, and there it dreamed, 
but never wakened to tell its dream. 


78 


FIRST READER. 


THE STRAWBERRY PLANT. 



The strawberry plant said: “We 
resemble the violet in many ways. 
But our roots are darker than theirs. 

“Why do you think they are called 
runners ? 

“Our stems taste something like 
those of the violets. Our stems and 
our leaves are covered with fine hairs. 




FIRST READER. 


79 


What do you think the hairs are good 
for? 

“ Our flowers have five petals, like 
the violet, but they are white. 

. “ Our leaves have three leaflets like 
the clover. 

“They have veins, too, but they are 
not like those of the violet leaves. 

“The veins in the violet leaves 
spread out like fingers. One of the 
children said the veins in our leaves 
resembled a back-bone with bones on 
each side. 

“Can you find other leaves with 
veins like ours? 

“ Do you see how sandy we are ? 
We do not care for black earth.” 


80 


FIEST READER. 


HIAWATHA’S CANOE. 



Hiawatha made for himself a 
pretty, light canoe. 

He asked the birch tree for some 
of its pretty yellow bark. 

He asked the cedar for some of its 
branches. 

He wanted the cedar, to make the 
birch canoe stronger. 

Then he asked the larch tree for 
some roots. 

The larch tree gave him some roots 
with which to bind together the ends 
of the boat. Then the fir tree gave 







FIRST READER. 


81 


him some of its resin. He put the 
resin into the cracks to keep the water 
out of the boat. 



Then he asked the hedgehog for 
some quills. 

The hedgehog gave him some of 
its pretty shining quills. 

He dyed them blue, red and yel¬ 
low. Then he put a necklace of 
quills all around the boat. 

His boat was finished, and it was 
very pretty. 





82 


FIRST READER. 


HERMES. 

When Hermes was a little baby, he 
could run very fast. 

One day he ran to the seashore. 

There he found a tortoise shell. 

He took the shell home. 

He made a lyre out of it. 

He used sea weeds to make the 
strings. 

Hermes made sweet music upon his 
lyre. 

Apollo heard him play upon his lyre. 

So Apollo came and said, u Please, 
Hermes, show me how to make sweet 
music.” 

And Hermes showed Apollo how. 

HIAWATHA AND THE WOODPECKER. 

Have you ever seen a woodpecker ? 

I will tell you how he got the tuft 
of red feathers on his head. 




FIRST READER. 


83 


Nokomis once told Hiawatha to go 
and find the great Pearlfeather. 

It was he who sent the wdiite fog. 

It was he who sent the fever to 
the children. 

Hiawatha found him in his wigwam. 

He fought him all day, but could 
not kill him. 

Suddenly, he heard a little wood¬ 
pecker in the tree. 

This is what the woodpecker sang: 

“Aim your arrows, Hiawatha, at 
the head of great Pearlfeather. 

“ There alone can he be wounded.” 

That is how Hiawatha killed the 
great Pearlfeather. 

Then Hiawatha called the wood¬ 
pecker from the tree. 

He stained his tuft of feathers red 
with blood, because he had helped 
him. 


84 


FIRST READER. 


That is how the woodpecker got 
the tuft of red feathers on his head. 

Hiawatha was a happy little fellow. 

He liked to help other people. 

That is why he fasted for seven 
days. 

That is why he went to kill Pearl- 
feather and his snakes. 

That is why he drove away the 
ravens from the corn. 

That is why he showed the Indians 
how to read and write. 

And Mondamin came to him; he 
told him how to grow the corn. 

And the woodpecker came to him; 
he told him how to kill Pearlfeather. 

Why did they all like him so well ? 


FIRST READER. 


THE WOODPECKER. 



We had a pretty bird. 

It was black, white and red. 

It was a woodpecker. 

The woodpecker has a long, sharp, 
black bill. 




86 


FIRST READER. 


It pecks the trees with its bill. 

There are some little ants in the 
trees. 

There are some worms and bugs 
there. 

Why does it like to find them ? 

The woodpecker has a queer tail. 

The tail is stiff and strong. 

The tail helps the woodpecker in 
climbing. 

The woodpecker has four toes on 
one foot. 

I have five toes on one foot. 

I have ten toes. 

The woodpecker has eight toes. 


HOW ROBIN GOT HER RED BREAST. 


Away, in the Northland, there was 
only one fire. 

An old man and a little boy took 




FIRST READER. 


87 


care of it night and day. 

One day the old man became sick. 

The little boy had to take care of 
him, and of the fire, too. 

At last he got very tired and fell 
asleep. 

The white bear was watching. 

When the little boy fell asleep, he 
jumped upon the fire with his wet 
feet, and rolled upon it. 

He thought he had put out the 
fire. 

But a little gray robin came and 
fanned the sparks with her wings. 

So the fire blazed up again. 

The robin scorched her little breast, 
but she did not care. 

She flew away to every hut in the 
Northland. 

Wherever her breast touched the 
ground a fire sprang up. 


FIRST READER. 


So, after a while, everybody had a 
fire. 

And everybody loves little robin. 

WHAT WE SAW. 

We filled a glass and a bottle with 
water. 

We set both, and an empty bottle, 
outside of the window. 

The ice in the glass rose above the 
edge. 

The filled bottle broke; the empty 
bottle did not break. 

When water freezes, it needs more 
room. 

When water freezes, it expands. 

Did the force of the expanding 
water break the bottle? 

The glass did not break, because 
the expanding water had room to 
spread at the top. 




FIRST READER. 


The empty bottle did not break, 
because there was no force to break it. 


WHAT WE SAW— CONTINUED. 

We filled two tin pans with water; 
then we poured the water from one 
pan into a bottle with a small neck. 

The next day we looked at the 
water in the bottle. 

There was no water in the pan to 
look at. 

We think the air drank the water 
that was in the pan. 

It was not so easy for the air to get 
at the water in the bottle. 

Only a little air could get at the 
water in the bottle at one time. 

More air could get at the opening 
of the pan; so it drank more water 
out of the pan than out of the bottle. 




90 


FIRST READER. 


Do you know that the air drinks 
water out of doors? 

Have you seen the pretty diamonds 
Jack Frost makes? 

Well, the sun beams turn them into 
water. 

Then the air drinks them. 


WHAT WE SAW-continued. 

There was a pan with some water 
on the alcohol lamp. 

The steam rose from the water. 
The water boiled. 

The heat from the lamp made the 
water boil. 

The air drank the water very fast. 
The water evaporated very fast. 

It turned into vapor. 

Then we could not see it. 

It was invisible. 




FIRST READER. 


91 


The heat made the little drops of 
water quite light. 

It made them feel as if they had 
wings. 

They flew inio the air. 

The steam rose from the water. 

Then we held a cold cover over 
it. 

Then we saw little drops all over 
the cover. 

The cold turned the little globules 
of-vapor back into water. 

The cold condensed them. 

There are many little globules of 
vapor in the air. 

If the air turns cold, they are turned 
into rain. 

If the air turns very cold, they are 
turned into snow. 

If there are many near the ground, 
they are turned into fog. 


92 


FIRST READER. 


Do you know what makes the 
clouds? 

Did you see what Jack Frost made? 

Did he freeze the little globules of 
vapor against the window? 

We put an equal amount of water 
into a tin dish and a bottle; after 
a day the water in the dish was all 
gone, but very little water was gone 
from the bottle. 

Most of us think that the sun drank 
it. The water in the bottle was not 
so easy to get out. 

If we boil water long enough, it 
will all boil away. 

When water boils, it wants to get 
away from the heat. It spreads out. 
It sings. It turns into steam. Some¬ 
times it makes the lid dance. 

We can not see steam. It is invi¬ 
sible. It floats about in the air. 


FIRST READER. 


93 


About a week ago we poured an 
equal amount of water into a pail and 
into a bottle. Yesterday the water in 
the pail was almost gone. From the 
bottle but little had gone. 

The sun had not got at it. The 
opening of the bottle is smaller than 
that of the pail. The air could not 
get at it so easily. It could not draw 
up as much at once. 

In drinking through a straw we get 
less water at a time than when we 
drink from a glass. 

WHAT WE SAW— CONCLUDED. 

When the water goes up into the 
air, we call it steam or vapor. When 
the water goes up into the air, we say 
it evaporates. We can not see the 
water after it has evaporated. 

Steam and vapor are invisible. 




94 


FIRST READER. 


Clothes are hung in the sun to 
dry, because it is warmer; because 
the heat makes the water evaporate 
more quickly. 

Clothes are spread out to dry, 
because the air can get at the water 
more easily; because it can draw up 
more water at a time. 

A cold lid, held over steam, made 
the steam turn back to water. When 
we brought a cold glass into the 
warm room, the glass became wet on 
the outside. 

The water could not have got 
through the glass. It must have come 
from the air around the glass. 

When steam or vapor is turned 
back to water, we say it is con¬ 
densed. 

When the steam from the tea¬ 
kettle gets to the window, it is con- 


FIRST READER. 


95 


densed ; the window is cold from the 
air outside. 

If it is very cold outside, the steam 
is condensed and freezes; then we say, 
“Jack Frost has been at the win¬ 
dow.” 

The window pane gets wet when 
we breathe upon it. 

Our breath has some vapor in it. 
The vapor is condensed. 

Sometimes there is very much 
vapor in the air. It becomes visible, 
and then we call it clouds. 

Sometimes the clouds are very near 
the ground; then we say it is foggy. 

When there is very much vapor in 
the air, some of it pushes and crowds; 
then some of it has to get out of the 
way; it falls down; then it begins to 
rain. 

Sometimes a cold wind blows over 


96 


FIRST READER. 


the clouds and makes them shiver; 
then a lot of little rain drops fall. 

If the wind is very cold, perhaps 
there will be some snow. 

Older people say, “The clouds are 
condensed.” 


PYTHON. 

There was a big dragon. 

The people were afraid of him. 

He crept into the houses and over 
the fields. 

He made many people sick. 

Apollo said, “He is a bad dragon. 

“I must kill him.” 

So Apollo drove his chariot across 
the sky. 

He took with him his bow and 
arrows. 

He shot many, many arrows down 
on Python. 




FIRST READER. 


97 


He killed Python. 

Then the people were glad. 

They said, “ See! There is Apollo ! 
He has killed the bad Python! 

“Now we will not be sick.” 

APOLLO’S COWS. 

One day Hermes found Apollo’s 
cows up in the sky. 

He drove the cows away and hid 
tnem in a cave. 

He was not a good boy that time; 
he was a little mischief. 

Apollo found it out. 

He said, “ Hermes, you must bring 
back my cows.” 

So Hermes did. 

He was a good boy again. 

And Apollo let him take care of 
his cows. 

And he let him milk them, too. 




98 


FIRST READER. 


Apollo was the sun. 

Hermes was the wind. 

The cows were the clouds. 

Can you tell when Hermes milks 
the cows ? 


PHAETON. 


Why did Phaeton go to Apollo ? 

Was Apollo a good papa? 

Phaeton said, “ Papa, may I drive 
your horses ?” 

Apollo said, “ They will burn you; 
they will run away with you. 

“You can not find the way.” 

But Phaeton said, “ Oh, yes, papa, 
I think I can!” 

How the horses did run when they 
got up the hill! 

Poor Phaeton could not hold them. 

He fell down into the water. 




FIRST READER. 


99 


All the trees and the grass burned. 
Why did the horses’ breath make 
them burn ? 

Did the horses come too near 
them? 


HIAWATHA’S TEACHING. 


The Indians had no schools. They 
could not read or write. They had 
no books. 

Hiawatha was sorry about this. 

“We can not speak with our friends 
when they are far off; what shall we 
do ?” he said. 

So he made paints of many colors. 

He took some smooth birch bark. 

He painted some queer things on 
the bark. 

For the earth he drew a straight 
line; for the sky a bow above it. 




100 


FIRST READER. 


On the left a point for sunrise, on 
the right a point for sunset. 

For rain and clouds he drew 
waving lines from sky to earth. 

The wigwam and footprints leading 
to it meant, “ Come, I am glad to see 
you.” 

So Hiawatha taught the Indians to 
read and write. 


THE FOUR WINDS. 


Mudjekeewis was the strong, brave 
west wind. 

Wabun was the east wind; he was 
young and beautiful. 

Kabibonokka lived among the ice 
bergs; he it was who sent the snow 
flakes. 

Shawondasee was the lazy south 
wind. 




FIRST READER. 


101 


He sent the birds and all the nice 
things of summer. 

One day he saw a tall and slender 
maiden all alone upon the prairie. 

Her hair was like the sunshine. 

Her clothes were a bright green. 

How pretty she was! But Sha- 
wondasee was too lazy to go to her. 

One morning she was all covered 
with snowy whiteness, and soon she 
flew away. 

How sorry he was then that he had 
not gone to her! 

Do you know who she was ? 


102 


FIRST READER. 


THE DANDELION. 




The dear, little, bright dandelions! 
How pretty and happy they look 
in the grass. 

They shine like tiny little suns. 
They drink the fresh dew for 
breakfast. 

They dine on sunshine all day long. 




FIRST READER. 


103 


In the evening they close up and 
go to sleep. 

Do the other flowers sleep, too ? 

I know a story about the dandelion. 

The goddess, Freya, was very, very 
sad. 

She had lost her husband. 

She went all over the earth shed¬ 
ding golden tears. 

Wherever a tear fell to the ground 
a golden dandelion sprang up. 

Can you tell time with the old 
dandelion ? 


A dandelion in a meadow grew, 
Among the waving grass and cow¬ 
slips yellow, 

Dining on sunshine, breakfasting on 
dew, 

He was a bright, contented, little 
fellow. 



104 


FIRST READER. 


WINTER AND SPRING. 


In a tent sat an old man with white 
hair, and a young man. 

The old man said, “ When I shake 
my head, all the land is covered with 
snow.” 

“ When I shake my head,” said the 
young man, “ warm rain falls down.” 

“ When I breathe,” said the old 
man, “ the water becomes as hard as 
stone. 

“All the leaves fall from the trees 
and die. 

“All the animals go and hide.” 

“When I breathe,” said the young 
man, “ all the flowers spring up. 

“All the birds sing.” 

How came the bright warm sun. 

The old man grew smaller and 
smaller. 



FIRST READER. 


105 


He faded into the air and into the 
ground. 

The young man saw a little spring 
beauty. 

It grew where the old man had sat. 

MRS. HOLLE. 

The little girl heard the apple tree 
say, “ Shake me, shake me, my apples 
tare all ripe!” 

So she shook the apple tree. 

She heard the bread say, “Take 
me out, take me out, I am all done.” 

She took the bread out of the oven. 

She saw Mrs. Holle shaking her 
feather beds. 

So she helped her shake them. 

Oh, how the feathers did fly! 

They flew down on the earth. 

They made the earth look white. 

And what did all the people say ? 




106 


FIRST READER. 


HOW DAYLIGHT CAME. 


It was dark on the earth. 

The gull had a box ; in it he carried 
the daylight. 

The raven wanted to see it. 

He said, “Oh, I have a thorn in my 
foot.” • 

“Let me pull it out,” said the gull. 

The gull pulled out the thorn. 

The raven gave a push to the lid of 
the box. 

Again the raven said, “I have a 
thorn in my foot.” 

Again the gull said, “ Let me pull 
it out.” 

Again the raven gave a push to the 
lid of the box. 

At last the lid came off the box. 

And the daylight flew out. 



FIRST REARER. 


107 


THE PILGRIMS. 



A long time ago, there were only 
Indians in America. 

There were no cities. 

There were no houses. 







108 


FIRST READER. 


There were only great, deep woods. 

Some white people came over in a 
ship. 

It was a small sailboat. 

It was called the Mayflower. 

The people were called the Pil¬ 
grims. 

It took them a long time to get 
here. 

It was a very, very cold winter. 

They had a very hard time. . 

Many of them died of hunger and 
cold. 


FIRST READER. 


109 


THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DAY. 



On Thursday is Thanksgiving day. 
This is why we have it. 

In the spring some Indians came to 
see the Pilgrims. 








110 


FIRST READER. 


They showed them how to plant 
corn. 

They were very good to the Pil¬ 
grims. 

The Pilgrims shot turkeys in the 
woods. 

And they built new log houses, too. 

They were not sick any more. 

When their corn was ripe, they 
had a great feast. 

They were very happy. 

This was the first Thanksgiving 
•day. 

They did not eat all of their corn. 

They saved some for the winter. 

They saved some to plant in the 
spring. 


FIRST READER. 


Ill 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



When Abraham Lincoln was a 
little boy his papa was very poor. 

He lived in a little log house in the 
woods. 


112 


FIRST READER. 


There was only one room in it. 

It had no wooden floor. 

Abraham and his sister slept in a 
little garret. 

To reach it they had to climb up 
a little steep ladder. 

But they did not mind. 



v 


Abraham liked to write. 

He took a smooth piece of wood 
and a stick. 

He had no paper. 


FIRST READER. 


113 


He put the stick into the fire until 
the point was black. 

Then it was just like charcoal. 

Then he wrote letters all over his 
piece of wood. 

When it was full, he scratched off 
the writing. 

Then he wrote some more. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


George Washington was the first 
President of the United States. 

He was called the'“Father of His 
Country.” 

He was a brave soldier. 

He said to King George, “The 
people pay you taxes. They work 
for you. They like to work. 

“But you must let them tell you 



114 


FIRST READER. 


what they would like. You must be 
good to them.” 

What did King George say? 

Who can tell the story of George 
Washington’s hatchet? 

Why did everybody like George 
Washington? 

We have no school on his birthday. 
It is the twenty-second of February. 


FIRST READER. 


115 


DECORATION DAY. 



We are going to pick flowers and 
bring them to school. 

Some old soldiers will come and 
get them. 

They will put them on the soldiers’ 
graves. 

They will put little flags on them 
there, too. 

They do this every year on the 
thirtieth of May. 


116 


FIRST READER. 


That is Decoration day. 

Sometimes an old soldier comes 
and talks to us. 

He tells us what a hard time the 
soldiers had. 

He tells us how brave they were. 

They were not afraid of being shot. 

But many of them did not come 
home from the war. 


\Yf/ lLKJ flBROflb "!5 m 
™ TALK/ ABOUT THE! 1 

BY WILLIAM HAWLEY SMITH. 


THE AUTHOR IS BEST KNOWN TO THE 
EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC BY HIS RE¬ 
MARKABLE STORY. 

"THE EVOLUTION OF DODD.” 

Rev. Minot J. Savage, of Boston says; “I wish 
that every father, mother and teacher in the Uni¬ 
ted States might read THE EVOLUTION OF 
DODD. Then I would like to have the rest of the 
people read it. It is wise, witty and in every way 
profitable for instruction.” 

“WALKS ABROAD” is for you. It will 
meet the fullest expectations of every person who 
has read THE EVOLUTION OF DODD. It 
contains thirty-one talks, most of them to YOU. 
In it the author says: ‘‘You see it is only as 
what is written or said strikes YOU es¬ 
pecially and leads YOU to action that is worth 
writing or saying at all.” 

Some of these talks are: 

A HUNTER’S PHILOSOPHY. 

HOUSE CLEANING AND HISTORY. 

BORN SHORT. (Alone worth the price of the book.) 
JONES’ DREAM. 

RATS. One of the best chapters in the book. 

SPECIALTY BUSINESS. 

WHITTLING. 

HALF-TONES FOR THE MILLION. 

FIVE OUT OF THIRTY. 

PHOTOGRAPHS. 


NOTE WHAT IS SAID OFTHE WORK. 

The book is chock full and brimming over with the best kind of sense. 
The chapter “ Born Short ” contains a philosophy which constitutes the 
basis of any true science of teaching, and I sincerely wish every parent 
and teacher in the land could be made to understand it. The volume is a 
book of books for all who are interested in the education of children. 

Richard Hodgson, L. L. D., 

Am. Sec. London Society of Psychic Research, Boston, Mass. 

HAS READ IT TWICE. 

I have just finished reading “WALKS ABROAD” for the second time 
with increased pleasure and profit. The book is a great tonic and specially 
helpful in getting teachers out of ancient ruts and into more reasonable 
ways of modern teaching. I heartily advise all teachers to keep a copy 
“ on file,” and to consult it frequently. E. A. Gastman, 

Supt. Schools, Decatur, Ill. 

I have read “WALKS ABROAD” with great pleasure. To a discrimin¬ 
ating teacher, its suggestions must be very valuable. I cordially approve 
the sentiments expressed in the last chapter. The great function of the 
public school is to develop men and women with a bias towards righteous¬ 
ness. The present condition of our country shows this. If the Nation goes 

(over.) 















to pieces it will be for the lack of the right kind of manhood and woman¬ 
hood. The chapter on “ Rats ” illustrates a great truth. There is no cast 
iron formula for the training of all minds. Richard Edwards, D. D., 

Ex-Supt. Public Instruction for Illinois. 

I most heartily commend “WALKS ABROAD” to all teachers, old or 
young, for it has meat in it for both. It is not “ cut and dried ” pedagogy, 
but its articles are none the less sound on that account, and they are ex¬ 
ceedingly attractive. They will be helpful to all teachers, no matter what 
their experience has been or has not been. It is a book no teacher can 
afford to be without. O. T. Bright, 

Co. Supt. Schools, Chicago, Ill. 

The copy of “WALKS ABROAD” which you so kindly sent me is at hand. 
I thank you for it, and still more for placing an edition of this book 
within the reach of every teacher. It is most wholesome reading for all 
who enter the school room. Mr. Hawley Smith is a keen writer, who cuts 
through all the shams and fads of the latter-day educationists. I shall 
recommend it everywhere. Yours truly, 

G. R. Shawan, 

Co. Sup’t of Schools, Champaign Co., Ill. 


INTERESTING READING. 

I have read all the chapters of “WALKS ABROAD” and enjoyed them 
greatly. It is “ mighty interestin’ readin’.” I wish it could be put in the 
hands of every parent and teacher in the land. Such good “preachment” 
and so entertaining. I have never known anything like it. On Saturday a 
number of women teachers from Albany are coming to walk with me, and 
I shall tell them they must all read “Walks Abroad.” 

John Burroughs, West Park, N. Y. 

Wm. Hawley Smith in his “WALKS ABROAD” is a miner digging 
,ewels of thought in our richest veins. When he holds them up to our 
eyes we recognize them as our own and wonder why we did not dig them 
out ourselves, but he presents them in such a unique and homely yet 
brilliant way that we thank him for trespassing upon our territory, and re¬ 
joice to see how rich we are. Joseph Carter, 

Prin. of Schools, Danville, Ill. 

FULL OF CAPITAL HITS. 

“WALKS ABROAD” relates, in the author’s best vein, his experiences 
and observations in the educational field, and his reflections upon the same 
It is full of helpful suggestions and capital hits. The undercurr ent of 
moral earnestness running below the surface, and often coming to the top, 
makes the book a healthful incentive to earnest, persistent effort to improve 
the education of the children. It is filled with the spirit of reform, but the 
author is not forgetful that we must laugh if we would grow strong.— 
Public School Journal. 

F*RICHS 

256 Pages. Paper, 25c; cloth, 50c. 

“Walks Abroad” and Evolution of Dodd, both, paper editions, 
45c; cloth, 90c. 

SPECIAL. Any teacher ordering a copy of this work, who, after read¬ 
ing same is not fully satisfied may return it and the price will be refunded. 

A. FLANAGAN, Publisher, 

CHICAGO. 

AGENTS WANTED. A copy can be sold to every teacher and to 
many parents. Liberal rates given. 













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